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KEYBOARDS

GRADE 1

KEYBOARDS – GRADE 1

At Grade 1 you can develop a range of skills and techniques including swing rhythm, coordinating ties over the bar line, semiquaver riff and staccato. In the exam you’ll play a set list of three songs and demonstrate your playback or improvising skills.

You can find out more about the exam by downloading the complete Keyboards syllabus, or taking a look at the information below.

In your Grade 1 exam you’ll play a set list of three songs. Two of these will be from our Initial songbook, including a technical focus (TF) song which focuses on two specific technical skills which run throughout the song, so you can demonstrate these techniques seamlessly in your performance. Your other song can be from our Grade 1 songbook, or can be a song of your own choice, a song that you’ve written, or a cover version that you’ve arranged.

These songs are included in the Grade 1 Keyboards songbook:

GNARLS BARKLEY

Crazy

THE BLACK KEYS

Gold On The Ceiling (TF)

THE BEATLES

Hey Jude

ALABAMA SHAKES

Hold On

CHIC

Le Freak (TF)

ROXY MUSIC

Love Is The Drug

WILSON PICKETT

Mustang Sally

GRIZZLY BEAR

Two Weeks (TF)

THE SONGBOOK

The Grade 1 Keyboards songbook includes everything you need for your exam, including sheet music for eight songs, along with performance hints and tips and background information for each song.

For inspiration, have a listen to our Spotify playlist featuring the artist’s original versions of our Rock & Pop 2018 Keyboards songs for Initial to Grade 2. If you don’t already have a Spotify account, it’s free to set one up. Follow us and our playlists to easily find them again.

Develop the skills professional musicians rely on in their careers, and learn how to play music you’ve never seen or heard before or improvise over a track in the session skills part of your exam. You can choose which skill to demonstrate in your exam.

PLAYBACK

Candidates choosing this option perform some music they haven’t seen or heard before. The test consists of a series of short melodic phrases, which candidates repeat back in turn, over a backing track. See the syllabus for full requirements and graded parameters.

IMPROVISING

Candidates choosing this option improvise in a specified style over a recorded backing track that they haven’t seen or heard before. The backing track consists of a passage of music played in a loop. See the syllabus for full requirements and graded parameters.